The present application relates to user interface systems in a vehicle and in particular to a system and method for providing user interface functionality based on vehicle location.
Vehicles typically include a number of electronic systems that provide information to a driver or passenger and receive commands from a driver or passenger. Exemplary systems include a compass, a temperature display, a navigation and/or point of interest system, a trainable transceiver, etc. A user interface (or interfaces) may be provided in the vehicle to display information and/or receive user inputs (or commands) for such systems. Often, the controls (or input devices) for multiple systems are provided in the same interior element (or location) in the vehicle. For example, buttons (or switches, dials, etc.) for providing input commands for a radio and temperature display may be provided in the same location on an instrument panel in a dashboard of the vehicle. In another example, multiple electronic systems (e.g., a point-of-interest system and a trainable transceiver) may be incorporated into the same module mounted in the vehicle. Accordingly, the user interface for the module would typically include separate user interface devices (e.g., buttons) for each system.
It would be desirable to provide a user interface for multiple electronic systems in a vehicle that includes configurable user input devices with multiple functions. Accordingly, the number of user input devices (e.g., buttons) required for multiple electronic systems may be reduced. It would also be desirable to provide configurable user input devices where the function associated with the input device is based on the location of the vehicle.
The teachings hereinbelow extend to those embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the above-mentioned needs.